


Fault

by Iosa



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Gen, Hiro has a cameo, Tadashi is briefly mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 08:16:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4869764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iosa/pseuds/Iosa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s not like she told that boy to run into the fire, right?  Right.  She couldn’t have known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fault

It wasn’t her fault, she told herself.  Callaghan was her colleague and friend; she was panicked, terrified for his safety.  One minute they were celebrating another successful showcase (and gaining the genius younger brother of an already outstanding pupil as a new student, to boot), and the next alarms are blaring and smoke and fire are everywhere and people are nearly trampling each other to escape.  

_“Get out,”_  he’d said.   _“I’ll look for stragglers!”_

_Of course_ she’d told the first person she ran into about Callaghan.  Someone, anyone, needed to know he was still in there.  That’s what happens when you panic, right?  You become hysterical and blurt things out in fear, even if there’s nothing that can be done.   _Should_ be done. 

It’s not like she told that boy to run into the fire, right?  Right.  She couldn’t have known. 

( _Of course_ it had to be Tadashi Hamada, she thinks to herself when she reads the report and puts two and two together.  Kind, sweet, helpful, _foolish_ Tadashi Hamada who wouldn’t think twice about risking himself for someone else.  She leaves one candle at the makeshift memorial, then gets hammered for the first time in her life, trying to drown her guilt.)

* * *

She wonders if her colleagues know.  She wonders if her students know.  If they do, they don’t show it.  Everything carries on pretty much normally.  Her classes do a good job distracting her from the twinges of guilt she still feels on occasion.  She tries hard not to overhear the faculty gossip.

“. . . sent . . . another message . . .” 

“. . . hasn’t been seen since . . . poor kid . . .”

“ . . . probably doesn’t want to . . . his brother . . .”

She considers sending a message of her own to Tadashi’s aunt.  She’s never able to go through with it.

* * *

He was alive.  That bastard was _alive_.  He stole that kid’s invention for his revenge against Alistair Krei.   _He_ set that fire. 

She sent a young man to his death for _nothing_.

She wishes she’d just left Callaghan to burn without a word to anyone.  She tries to get hammered again, but can’t keep anything down.

* * *

The faculty is abuzz with excitement not long after the “Krei Tech incident”;  Hiro Hamada finally registered for school.  They grant him his brother’s private lab, and even she’s taken aback by the unorthodox move.

(Probably extra incentive to convince him to stick around.)

She doesn’t expect the news that he’s attending one of her classes.  She keeps her eyes off of him the entire lecture.

She sure as _hell_ doesn’t expect him to walk up to her desk after class, when it’s just the two of them.

“I know who you are,” he says.  She keeps her eyes averted, doesn’t respond.

“I know you were there that night,” he continues.  “I was there, too.”

She internally braces herself for the cruel accusations, the cold anger.  She deserves it from him.

“It’s not your fault.”

Her eyes meet his in shock.  All she sees is sympathy.

“There’s no way to know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t said anything.  But I understand why he did it; a part of me still thinks it was stupid, but I completely understand, now.  I’m not in a place to judge him anymore.  And you . . .”

She winces.

“And you were scared that someone you cared about was in danger.  You just wanted someone to help.  I understand _that_ , too.”

He pauses.

“So . . . I just . . . well, I noticed you were refusing to look at me, and I thought . . . maybe that, you know . . . I just wanted you to know that I don’t blame you.  So, I guess . . . guess I’ll see you next class?”

He gives an awkward smile and shrug, before making a hasty retreat.

For the first time since the fire, she finally lets herself cry.

It _wasn’t_ her fault.

 


End file.
